NEMATODAP

Nematodes or round worms

largest animal phylum
most widespread and abundant among metazoans
nonparasitic nematodes are meiofaunal animals that live in interstitial spaces of algal
mats, aquatic sediments, and terrestrial soils
mosses and lichens maintain a characteristic nematode fauna with the ability to withstand
periodic desiccation. The worm passes into a state of suspended animation called
cryptobiosis

Form
homogeneous and most share a common body plan
elongated, cylindrical, and tapered at both ends
not divided into regions
Kinochulus - has an introvert with 6 double, longitudinal rows of cuticular spines
Anterior end - radially symmetrical
Body and organ systems - bilateral symmetry
Caudal gland - drawn out to form a cylindrical tail
- duo-gland adhesive organ
tissue may be cellular or syncytial and characterized by a species-specific number of cells
or nuclei
no locomatory cilia

Body wall
consists of a cuticle, epidermis, and longitudinal muscles
Stilbonematidae - have body surfaces clothed with symbiotic filamentous blue-green
bacteria and consequently appear to be hairy
Cycloneuralians - it is melted and is often sculptured or ornamented in various ways
Outermost layer of nematodes is composed of a thin epicuticle that probably includes lipids
and carbohydrates
Inside the epicuticle are three additional, largely collagenous layers
1. Cortex - outermost, is sometimes annulated (ringed) and may contain elastin
2. Median layer -variable and may be fluid or structured, accounts for most of the
differences between cuticles of different species
3. Basal layer - innermost layer; may be striated or laminated or contain fibres in a
crossed-helical arrangement
contains no body cuticle but it is present in the pharyngeal lining and eggshells of some
species
Molting:
1. The old cuticle separates from the epidermis and its hydrolysis begins with its
innermost layer
2. Secretion of the new cuticle is accompanied by the continued hydrolysis of the old
cuticle
3. Dutring ecdysis the remains of the old exocuticle are shed
Ecdysone - hormone that controls molting in arthropods; present in nematodes
Epidermal cords - extend the length of the body and contain the epidermal nuclei, excretory
organs, and longitudinal nerve cords
muscle layer - longitudinal fibers and no circular muscles
muscle fiber is divided into a basal region containing contractile proteins and an
Innervation process - lacks contractile fibers
Motor signals from the CNS are transmitted to the muscle body with these processes not
axons
 The body-wall of muscles attached to the inside of the cuticle by tonofilaments extending
from the muscles through the epidermal cells to hemidesmosomes on the cuticle
hemocoel
no specialised gas-exchange surface

Nervous system and sense organs

entire nervous system is intraepithelial in the epidermis, pharynx, and hindgut
brain - collar like, triannular, circumpharyngeal nerve ring
sensory nerves extend anteriorly from the brain to innervate the many cephalic sensilla
Dorsal, lateral, and ventral nerve cords extend posteriorly in the epidermal cords, but
motor output to the body-wall muscles is from the dorsal & ventral cords only
Dorsal nerve cord - motor
ventral nerve cord - sensory & motor
lateral cords - chiefly sensory and serve the excretory canal
Papillae - arranged in three rings around the mouth
Labial(2 rings of 6) and cephalic(1 ring of 4) papillae are low projections of the lips and
head; mechanoreceptors
The inner labial papillae, amphids, and phasmids all open to the exterior via a small
cuticular pore, thus exposing the sensory cilia directly to the external environment;
chemosensory
Setae - elongate circular bristles on the head and body; touch receptors that cause the
animal to withdraw from the stimulus
Amphids - pouch- or tubelike invaginations of the cuticle open to the exterior and containing
ciliated receptor cells
Phasmids - may be chemosensory, secretory, or excretory; parasitic nematodes
Ocelli - function is uncertain
Cuticular lenses - photoreceptive

Locomotion
undulation of the body - dorsoventral plane
longitudinal muscles are antagonized by the elastic cuticle
Annulations - improve flexibility
Crossed-helectical fibers - prevent kinking as the body flexes and herniation as the
hydrostatic pressure rises
requires substratum
Desmoscolex - has a ringed cuticle similar to that of earthworms
Caudal gland - used for temporarily attaching to the substratum
- used for tail-anchored escape movements

Nutrition
Carnivores and herbivores
Gut - cycloneuralian
Ectodermal foregut - consists of buccal cavity and pharynx
Endodermal midgut - intestine
Ectodermal hindgut - rectum
Mononchus papillatus - toothed terestrial nematode
Buccal cavity contains cuticular stylet which can protrude from the mouth to puncture the
cell
Buccal cavity leads into a tubular pharynx
Pharyngeal lumen is triradiate in cross section and lined with cuticle
Epitheliomuscular cells - lined on its walls
Pharynx - pump that suks food from the mouth into the intestine
 Triradiate arrangement - adaptation for sucking
Valves are present to control the direction of flow
Eurodylaimus - epithelium is ciliated
Most nematodes have no cilia and the epithelium has a brush border of microvilli
Mermithid nematodes - midgut is syncytial, lacks a lumen, and functions in food storage
but not digestion
Caenorhabditis elegans - intestine synthesizes yolk proteins and exports them via hemocoel
to the ovary

Excretion
Excrete ammonia via diffusion
Gland and canal cells occur in the same worm, they share a common pore
Excretory gland - protrudes into the hemocoel and has a necklike duct that opens at a mid
ventral pore
- occurs in Adenophorea
Tylenchelus semipenetrans - secrete a gelatinous matrix around the egg
Excretory canal system - lies within a single elaborate cell; the cell is laid out in the form
of the letter H, with two long canals embedded in the lateral epidermal cords and joined
together by a short transverse canal
Cilia and muscles are absent from the canals

Reproduction and development

most are gonochoric, but hermaphroditic species are Caenorhabditis elegans, and some
are parthenogenetic
Fertilization - internal with copulation
Sexually dimorphic
Males
Bursa - posterior end of the male is curled like a hook or broadened into a fan-shaped
copulatory aid
Paired gonads - one is anterior and the other is posterior
Germinal zone - upper region of a gonad; gonial cells are produced by mitosis
tubular testes > long sperm duct > seminal vesicle > prostatic secretions >
ejaculatory duct > cloaca
Wall of cloaca form 2 pouches
- Each pouch contains a copulatory spicule - short and shaped like a pointed, curved
blade
Gubernaculum - guide the spicules through the cloaca
Females have one or two gonads that are usually oriented in opposite directions
Ovary (germinal zone) > tubular oviduct > elongate uterus > vagina > female
gonopore
Produces a pheromone that attracts male
Chromosome diminution - blastomeres destined to become somatic cells lose the
genetic material their descendants will not need; nematode embryos
Eutely - cell divisions cease near the end of embryonic development so the number of
cells of the adult is constant and characteristic of the species
Growth = increase of cell size not number
Life cycle: egg > three juvenile instars > adult

Parasitism
Ectoparasites and endoparasites
One host : Ascaris, hookworms, pinworms, & trichinella
Ascaroid nematodes - feed on the intestinal contents of humans, dogs, cats, pigs, cattle,
horses, chickens, and other vertebrates
Ascaris lumbricoides - human ascaroid
Ascaris - secrete enzyme inhibitors that protect the worm from the hosts digestive
enzymes
Ascaris suum - spread from pigs to humans or vice versa
Toxocara canis & Toxocara cati - dogs and cats
Visceral larval migrans - Toxocora infect humans and they become confused during
migration in the inappropriate host and can end up in tissues
Hookworms - Ancylostoma & Necator, also inhabit the digestive tracr of vertebrates but
feed on the hosts blood
Necator americanus - most important species
life cycle: fertilized egg in feces > hatch outside hosts body > juvenile gains entry in
hosts skin > carried in blood to the lungs > trachea > pharynx >intestine
Oxyuridan nematodes/pinworms - parasitic in the gut of vertebrates and invertebrates
Life cycle; egg of feces and then develop into the gut of its host
Enterobius vermicularis - affects children; female crawls at night out of the hosts anus
Trichinelloids - digestive tracts of vertebrates, esp birds and mammals
Infects mammals and is the cause of trichinosis
Humans may get it from pigs
Two hosts
Filaroids - threadlike worms that inhabit lymph glands and some other tissues of the
definitive host
Females are viviparous and the juveniles are called microfilariae
Bloodsucking insects are the intermediate hosts
Filiarisis
Wucheraria bancrofti - intermediate host is mosquito and definitivee is human
Adults live in lymph ducts
Elephantiasis - increase in the mass of connective tissues
Heartworm - Dirofilaria immitis; lives as an adult in the heart or pulmonary artery of dogs,
wolves and foxes , is transmitted by mosquitoes and has a life cycle similar to Wucheraria
Loa loa - African eye worm
Subcutaneous tissues of humans and baboons
Dracunculoids - found in connective tissues and body cavities of definitive hosts
- fiery serpent
guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis) - definitive host is human and intermediate
host is a freshwater copepod

Diversity of Nematoda
AdenophoreaC
Most are free-living, some are parasitic
Free-living: some terrestrial and almost all are freshwater and marine nematodes
Epidermal cells are uninucleate
Excretory glands; no excretory canals
SecerneteaC
Almost all are terrestrial; many are important parasites
Free-living species live in soils
Phasmids are present
Epidermal cells are uni- or multinucleate
Excretory canals are present